Opposing Views: Alex Carpenter.
Islam has been a significant presence in Kosovo since the 1300s. Once a part of the Roman empire, the Ottoman empire, greater Yugoslavia and now a small, independent republic in the heart of the Balkans, Kosovo has for centuries been both a seat of Islamic learning and culture in the region and, more recently, a site of ethnic and religious violence. Today, Kosovo remains in the news as a Muslim-dominated country perched uncertainly on the periphery of the “Arab Spring.”